Dear visitor, welcome to our Turkish Citizenship Through Marriage page. Article 16 of the Turkish Citizenship Law (No. 5901) includes the conditions of acquiring Turkish citizenship by marriage. This law and the regulation on the implementation of the law contain the requirements for Turkish citizenship application of foreign nationals who are married to a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, and the application procedures and principles.

Conditions of Becoming A Turkish Citizen Through Marriage

First of all, being married to a citizen of the Republic of Turkey does not give a foreign national the right to be a Turkish citizen directly. Marrying does not even give foreign nationals the right to reside in Turkey. These are processes that go completely separate from each other and must be managed correctly. The conditions for acquiring Turkish citizenship through marriage are regulated in Article 16 of the Citizenship Law (No.5901). In accordance with the text of the relevant law, a foreign national must comply with the following conditions in order to become a Turkish citizen through his / her Turkish citizen spouse:

• A foreign national applying for Turkish citizenship must have been married to a Turkish citizen for at least three years. It is also necessary that this marriage is already going on.
• Spouses must live in family unity.
• The foreigner should not be engaged in activities contrary to the union of the marriage.
• The foreign person should not be in a situation that threatens the public security.

Persons with foreign nationality can apply for citizenship to the population directorates in their settlements if they meet the above conditions. If a Turkish citizen spouse dies after the application, the second condition in the list above, namely the family union of the spouses is not sought. The foreign national can become a Turkish citizen if he / she meets the other conditions. However, foreign nationals who acquire Turkish citizenship by marriage method, in a situation such as the annulment of the marriage, continue to keep the citizenship of the Republic of Turkey if they are in good faith in their marriage.

Turkish Citizenship Application Required Documents

In the application made for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by marriage, an application file must be prepared and all documents must be submitted in full. Although the documents required in this application are listed below, there may also be documents that may change or be added depending on the personal situation of the applicant. For this reason, we recommend that you advance your application through Inforeigner experts. These are the required documents:

• Completely filled Turkish citizenship application form (Referred to as VAT-6)
• Request petition stating the request for application and other matters, if any, to be transferred.
• Photocopy of the identity card of the spouse of the Turkish citizen of the person.
• A copy of the applicant’s passport or similar document with a notarized, Turkish translation.
• Translation of the Afghan national’s spouse’s birth certificate in Turkish and a notarized copy.
• A photocopy of the persons’ marriage certificate must also be submitted.
• Formula B (Formule B) International marriage registration.
• For foreign nationals whose place of residence is in Turkey, they submit the photocopies of their last residence permit and, if applicable, previous residence permits.
• Documents showing that the spouses live in a family union are also required. As proof here, for example the lease agreement, invoices, bank account, etc. such documents are accepted.
• 2 biometric photos taken within the last 6 months, in accordance with ICAO standards, with a white background.
• If there is a finalized court decision about the foreign national due to any crime, a notarized copy of this decision is added to the application.
• The file is completed with the receipt showing that the citizenship application service fee has been paid to the relevant cashier.

Procedures and Principles of Turkish Citizenship by Marriage

In the regulation numbered 5901 on the implementation of citizenship law, after the application, the procedures and principles related to the processing of the application by the application authorities and the acquisition of citizenship are mentioned. People who meet the conditions listed in Article 16 of this law can gain the right to apply for Turkish citizenship by the method of marriage. An examination is carried out by the application authorities about the foreign national who makes the application. After the completion of this review, if the following results are seen, the person’s application is not accepted and the necessary information is provided on the subject:

• If it is understood that he/she has not been married to a citizen of the Republic of Turkey for at least three years, the application is not accepted.
• If it is understood that the marriage related to the application is terminated due to a reason such as the death of the spouse of the Republic of Turkey, before the date of divorce or citizenship application, the application is not accepted.
• If it is understood that the applicant foreigner is in the judicial process or convicted or detained due to any crime, the application is not accepted.
• The applications of those who are understood to be unable to submit the Turkish citizenship application documents requested in accordance with Article 26 of the regulation, as detailed above, are also not accepted.

Important note: If the spouse of the foreign person who wants to acquire Turkish citizenship is a person who acquired Turkish citizenship afterwards, the date of acquisition of Turkish citizenship of this person is taken as basis in the calculation of the time spent in their marriage.

Domestic Application Conditions

There are some procedures and principles in the procedures to be carried out on people who will apply for Turkish citizenship and whose place of residence is Turkey. An application file is prepared about the foreign national who is understood to meet the requirements for the application and the police headquarters is asked to investigate the foreign person. The Police Department is investigating the following issues in this investigation:

• It is checked whether the foreign national who applies for Turkish citizenship and his / her Turkish citizen spouse live in family union.
• It is checked whether the applicant has acted incompatible with the marital union. For example, prostitution and mediation of prostitution, etc. It is examined whether such behaviors exist. After the examination, opinions about this are stated in the file.
• It is checked whether there is any obstacle to the applicant’s acquisition of Turkish citizenship in terms of the security of the country and public order.

These above conditions are investigated and the resulting opinion is written either positively or negatively on the investigation form in detail and clearly. The minutes of the investigation made are also attached to this investigation form. The applicant’s foreigner’s file, whose investigation is completed by the police officers, is returned to the provincial directorate. After that, the file is sent to the commission unit by the provincial directorate for other necessary investigations and investigations. The procedures to be completed by the commission and the principles to be applied in the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by marriage are as follows:

• Foreign nationals who want to acquire Turkish citizenship and their spouse are interviewed by the commission both separately and together. Through this interview, it is investigated whether the marriage is a real marriage or a fake marriage made for the foreigner to acquire Turkish citizenship.
• The opinions formed as a result of the interview are written on the form of the interview regarding the acquisition of Turkish citizenship through marriage. The file of the person is sent to the Ministry by the provincial directorate for the final decision.

Application Conditions from Abroad

A file consisting of the documents we have stated in detail above is prepared for the foreign national who wishes to gain Turkish citizenship and fulfills all the necessary conditions for the application in question. The required documents in applications to be made from abroad may differ according to an application from Turkey. Since this situation varies from country to country of residence, it is not possible for us to provide a valid list of required documents for all countries on our page, but Inforeigner experts will assist you in delivering a detailed list of documents.

After the application, the deputy consul responsible for the consular procedures or a higher authority from him and his wife and his / her spouse, both separately and together, are interviewed to determine whether their marriage is a real marriage or a show marriage for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship. The opinion formed as a result of this interview is written in a positive or negative manner, in detail and openly, on the interview form of the foreigner who wants to gain Turkish citizenship by marriage. If the laws of the state where the foreign person or persons are located allow, an additional criminal record is requested and the issue of whether the marriage records of the foreigner with his Turkish citizen spouse are available in the official authorities of that state is investigated. The resulting information and documents are attached to the person’s file and sent to the Ministry for a final decision.

How long does it take to apply for Turkish Citizenship?

The rapid progress of the procedures in applications for Turkish citizenship depends on the preparation of the file both fully and correctly. All information and documents provided in citizenship applications must be complete and must not be false. Since the flaws in these information and documents will cause an attempt to be provided by the administration in the continuation of the application process, this causes the application process to proceed more slowly than normal.

As Inforeigner, Turkish citizenship by marriage, we provide preparation, application and follow-up services with our expert consultants in all topics like: Turkish citizenship by marriage, Turkish citizenship with long-term residence, Turkish citizenship with real estate worth 250,000 USD, Turkish citizenship through employment investment, general acquisition of Turkish citizenship, citizenship with five years of residency, Turkish citizenship with a bank deposit of 500,000 USD, The processes of obtaining Turkish citizenship by marriage and exceptionally, Turkish citizenship through immigration, Turkish citizenship by place of birth and descent, Turkish citizenship through election, regaining of Turkish citizenship, citizenship by buying a house in Turkey, Citizenship with a work permit, etc.

To get detailed information and to start your Turkish citizenship application, you can reach us from all our contact information or by calling 0212 706 91 48. We wish you a nice day.